It Takes One to Know One
by S.J.Stevens
Summary: Egos collide as Sasuke and Neji have a chance meeting in the middle of the streets of Konoha. Which genius will imerge victorious? Or will someone else ruin their fun? A VERY short story about how popularity is not the best judge of character.


*Author's Notes: This is just a fun little story meant to help unblock my writer's block. I'm not a huge Sasuke or Neji fan, so this was just for fun. I did manage to throw my favorite character in at the end though, so I hope you all enjoy! Oh, and I am gonna finish my other 2 fics. I've just been having terrible writer's block.

*Thanks to SpammishRice for the great tip on how to get creative juices flowing! If you love Shikamaru, Hinata, or just the Naruto-verse, then check out her stories. They're awesome!

*Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I would be rich. Damn you Kishimoto. :P

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It Takes One to Know One

Sasuke sauntered through the streets of Konoha with his hands stuck in his pockets, eyes sweeping to and fro as strangers passed. It was early spring, but the air was warmer than usual. The coming summer was bound to be a hot one. The dark haired boy groaned. Kakashi's training had, as of late, gotten to be quite brutal. The jonin seemed to enjoy pushing his young genin students to the brink of exhaustion and then some. The forth-coming heat would only make their training sessions that much more unbearable, because there was no way that the great Copy-Cat ninja of Konoha was going to halt their rigorous endeavors just because of a little change in weather.

A loud bout of giggling startled Sasuke out of his thoughts. While many others found this kind of laughter to be a cheerful thing, to the Uchiha it was as much of a signal of danger as the low whoosh of air surrounding the toss of a shuriken or kunai. Girls were dangerous. Especially packs of giggling girls. Sasuke stiffened, instinctively looking for the best escape route. Just as he was about to jump onto to a nearby rooftop and dart away, he caught a snippet of the girls conversation.

"And I heard that Hyuuga's are naturally well-built, too." The girls tittered again, as if they were sharing some great taboo secret. As if it wasn't obvious who they were talking about. Sasuke snorted derisively, all thoughts of fear and running gone from his mind. With a darkening mood, Sasuke shoved his hands back down into the pockets of his slightly worn out white shorts as he continued to walk. The girls paid him no mind as he passed, and though Sasuke had always claimed that that kind of anonymity was what he desired, it was obvious to anyone that he craved the attention. After spending so long being the object of every girl's desire, it was impossible to not notice the change. Sure, plenty of girls still fawned over him, all the chuunin and jonin in the village expected great things of the last of the great genius Uchiha clan, and he had mastered Kakashi's chidori in less than a month. But it wasn't the same. After all, wasn't that dull Hyuuga kid fawned over as well? Wasn't Neji a prodigy whom all the other shinobi in the village expected great things from too? And hadn't that stupid white-eyed boy managed to perfect a jonin-level technique long before anyone would have imagined?

Sasuke kicked his foot hard against the ground, sending small rocks and dust flying into the oncoming crowd. Several people shouted indignantly, but the moody Uchiha heard none of it, being too wrapped up in his thoughts. It wasn't until he had walked past the Ichiraku ramen stand and the gaggle of obnoxious girls crowding nearby that he noticed anyone around him.

"I'm in no mood for this." A curt voice cut through the giggling and noise of the streets, penetrating Sasuke's thoughts. The pale boy looked up, his dark eyes connecting with the older boy's opal eyes as Neji came to a stop outside the group of girls. It was as if time had paused, as the air grew thick and the noise from the street appeared to diminish rapidly. Sasuke's fists clenched and unclenched reflexively, as Neji's eyes narrowed. Then, suddenly, the noise returned. The girls whispered hurried questions and gossip between one another as the Hyuuga and Uchiha clan prodigies stared each other down. Just as Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, Neji rolled his eyes and, with a slight toss of his well-groomed hair, stated that he was in no mood to deal with a rookie either. The older boy began walking; passing Sasuke as if the boy wasn't even there.

Biting back the urge to slug the Hyuuga as he passed, Sasuke chose to give in to an entirely different urge. He relaxed his stance and, turning towards Neji's retreating back, laughed just loud enough for Neji to hear. The boy paused, not turning around. Sasuke smirked and raised his volume loud enough so that everyone close by could hear exactly what he was going to say next.

"Queen."

The proud Hyuuga turned slowly, eyes ablaze. The crowd around them paused, awaiting Neji's counter. But the boy seemed to be at a loss. His mouth opened and closed several times, before he gritted his teeth in irritation. Sasuke smirked arrogantly, assured over his victory over the other boy. But before either of the pale, dark-haired prodigies could utter another word, an entirely different voice spoke over the crowd.

"Well, like they say-" the voice said in an all too familiar drawl, "It takes one to know one."

And with that, the other pale, dark-haired prodigy of the leaf village stood from his position on the roof and, wondering why a couple of geniuses would bother with something as troublesome as a stand-off, began to make his way home.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Author's Extra Notes- This little story was super short. I may eventually continue it, or just turn it into a series of short stories/drabbles, depending on the responses I get. For now though, I'm hoping to continue and finish my other two stories, "Stole" and "I Didn't Know You Then." Wish me luck!


End file.
